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THE NATION'S SINS 



AND 



THE NATION'S DITY. 



THE NATION'S SINS AND THE NATION'S DUTY. 



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PREACHED IN THE 

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, POTTSTOWX, 
PENNSYLVANIA, 



NATIONAL FAST DAY, APRIL 30, 1863. 



REV. WILLIAM B. STEWART. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
WILLIAM S. & ALFRED MARTIEN, 

606 CUESTNUT STREET. 
1863. 



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SERMON 



Cl'KSBD BE HE THAT DOETH TUB WORK OF TBB LORD DKCBITFCLLT, A!«D CURSED BB 
BE THAT KEEI-KTII DA( K BIS SWORD FROM BLOUD. 

Jereipiah xlviii. 10. 

TnE word which is rendered dicrtf/uNj/, in the text, is ren- 
dered -nrijliijevtli/^ in the margin. The original word conveys 
both ideas. The curse of Heaven is pronounced on all who do 
the work of the Lord deceitfully or negligently; and the de- 
claration of the text is as true to-day as it was at the time it 
was uttered by the prophet Jeremiah. And as we have assembled 
together on a national occasion, it is highly proper for us to look at 
this great Scripture truth from a national stand- point. In fact, its 
original reference was national, and in the case of rebellion. Accord- 
ing to the direction of the Lord, the Israelites had subdued the 
Moabites; but on the occa.'^ion to which the text refers, they had 
rebelled against the authority of Israel, and the Lord comnii.ssioned 
the Babylonians, under the penalty of a curse, to suppress their 
rebellion. lie directs them by his servant, the proj.het, to do it 
faithfully, and pronounces a curse upon every one who should refuse 
to unsheathe his sword for the purpose; or, having once taken up 
arms, should perform that work of the Lord deceitfully or negligently. 
Thus, you perceive, my friends, that it rcijuires no special accom- 
modation, to make the solemn truth contained in this passage of God's 
word applicable to us under present circumstances. 

Taking a national view of the subject, then, the first important 
question which demands our attention, is, as to what is the great work 
which the Lord has given this nation to perform; and how have we 
performed it. 

I. What, then, in the Providence op God, is the grand 

MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA? 

It is jilainly to be gathered from tlie history of God's dealings with 
this nation, that the grand mission with which he has honored it, is 
to teach the other nations of the earth the great lesson of FREKDOM. 
The grand problem which, I believe, our Divine Master has given us 



to solve, is that of self-government, or of Constitutional Liberty 
— liberty exercised and enjoyed according to the word of God. The 
world so regards our mission. Religious liberty, of course, implies 
civil liberty. In fact, the true idea of government is to secure to man 
the rights of conscience. All his other rights are subordinate, or 
implied in the rights of conscience, properly understood. Our 
Pilgrim Fathers were driven from their native land and the graves of 
their ancestors by the hand of tyranny and oppression, and forced to 
seek a home in America, where they might enjoy 

* 
"Freedom to worship God." 

This was their grand idea, and the grand object of their mission to 
the shores of America; and the design of the Government which they 
formed, was mainly to protect them in the enjoyment of this liberty. 
They regarded the Lord Jesus Christ as their King, and themselves 
as the rightful subjects of his mediatoilal kingdom. According to a 
certain writer* on this subject, "they undertook nothing which they 
did not ask him to prosper, and they accomplished nothing for which 
they did not give him the praise : they suffered nothing without 
carrying their sorrows to his throne, and they ate nothing which they 
did not ask him to bless." And when the time came, in the provi- 
dence of God, for their separation from their mother country, these 
same immortal principles of liberty were embodied in their Declara- 
tion of Independence. Yes, the great experiment of self-government, 
according to the word of God, was to be made in America; and 
having formed our noble Constitution, the eyes of the world were 
turned to behold the results. The despots of the old world looked 
with alarm, lest the experiment might be successful; and their 
oppressed subjects looked, with anxious hearts, lest it might prove a 
failure ! 

The experiment has not failed, however, although it is now being 
tested by a most fiery ordeal; but I have no doubt, we shall yet come 
out of the fire, a better and a happier people, with a freer and a purer 
Government. 

No, no; the great American experiment, notwithstanding our 
national sins, has not failed, and shall not fail, for God has a great 
work for us to do. We have not yet fulfilled our mission. We shall 
be, for ages hence, the asylum of the oppressed, and the hope of the 
downtrodden of other lands. The time is coming, when the foul blot 
of negro slavery shall be wiped from our national escutcheon, and 
when the air of America, to borrow the figure of Lord Mansfield, will 
be too pure for a slave, and when every man who breathes it shall be 

FREE. 

The letters which our Divine Master has given us to inscribe upon 
the banners which he would have us unfurl to the nations of the 
earth, is, " Ye shall know (he truth, and the truth shall make i/ou free." 

* Grceuwood. 



I believe that God, in his providence, has said to tlie jieople of this 
nation, almost as distinctly, and certainly as truly, as our Saviour said 
to his diciples, " Go ye into all the world, and preacli the ;.'usi)el to 
every creature." The United States of America is commissioned, by 
our J)ivine blaster, as-thc L^ruat Kvanuei, of liiuKUTV and Hklioion 
among the nations of the earth. Her apostles of liberty and reli^'ion 
are yet to be found in all lands, and her missionaries .-ire to plant the 
standard of the cross on every island of the ocean where it has not 
been already done. And should she fail in this mission, or perform 
it deceitfully or negligently, sore indeed Mill be her chastisements 
from the hands of the liord. lie has given us all the facilities 
necessary for the accomplishment of this great mi.ssion. He has 
given us a country whose resources arc almost inexhaustible I Never 
was any nation of the earth so favorably situated for working out the 
great problem of human LHhiIij as the United States of America. 

These few remarks may suflQce to give some idea of the great work 
•which the Lord has given this nation to perform; and it is eminently 
• proper for us to imiuire, on an occasion like this, how this great work 
has been performed. 

II. IIaVK AVE DONR IT DECEITFULLY OR NEGLKIENTLY? 

It will be impcssiblc, in a single discourse, to enumerate our 
national sins, on this subject, in detail. There are iiro yrawl sins, or 
mistakes, however, which I sincerely believe we have made, which 
will, perhaps, cover the whole ground. 

1. Then, let us inquire, in the first place, if we have not been per- 
forming our national work deceitfully or negligently, hi/ dipdrting 
from tlir principles (if the ijoxprl in the viamKjnnmt of our national 
ajf'oirs — hi/ i/radualli/ separatimj Christianity from our j)olitical and 
business life. 

Now, if this is true of us as a people, as I honestly believe it is, it 
is undoubtedly a departure from the design of our fathers in coming 
to this country, and from the desigi\.of God in bringing them here. 
Although they were opposed to the union of Uhurch and State, as 
seen in Kuropean countries, yet they held that the Government should 
be administered according to the principles of the gospel. Our 
fathers understood the l>ible to teach, that Government is a divine 
institution, and that the civil magistrate is the minister of God for 
good, and in this thing our fathers were not mistaken. They believed 
with Paul, that *'thc powers that be, are ordained of God," and that 
"whosoever resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God." 
And one of the great sins of the nation is, that in the administration 
of our Government, and in the treatment of our regularly constituted 
rulers, and in the transaction of our business affairs, we have dej)arted 
from the principles of the gospel. The individual exceptions, which 
might be named, would only prove the truth of this general state- 
ment. 

The precise time when this departure from the word of God began, 



•we may not now be able to determine, and the reason is, because tbe 
angle of deflection is often so acute, that it cannot be seen until 
several steps have been taken. The traces of this departure may be 
seen, however, as far back, at least, as the formation of our national 
charter. It is certainly a fact, that while the existence of God 
is recognised, and our dependence on his providence is acknow- 
ledged in the Declaration of Independence, our national Constitution, 
noble in other respects, as it is, ''pays no homage to the Deity"! 
His very existence is ignored, and our dependence upon him for 
"life, and breath, and all things," is not recognised in that instru- 
ment. This unfortunate omission, whether done " deceitfully or neg- 
ligently," has brought upon us the opprobium of other nations, and, I 
fear, the chastisement of Heaven. 

"Whether from this beginning or not, the fact cannot be denied, 
that there has resulted an almost entire separation of the principles of 
the gospel from our political life; and the management of our political 
affairs has passed, with rare exceptions, of late years, into the hands of 
ungodly men ! 

It is said that "when the righteous are in authority, the people 
rejoice; but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn," 
(Prov. xxix. 2,) and so they ouglit to mourn; and I hope there will 
be, on this Day of Humiliation and Prayer, sincere penitence and 
mourning among all the people; for religion appears to have lost that 
firm hold on our civil rulers which it ought to have, and which it 
once had; the oath of office has lost, with many, its solemn sanctions, 
and is now too often looked upon as a mere form, or unmeaning cere- 
mony; and the duties of the Christian minister are circumscribed by 
the politician ! ! He must preach, in a very limited sense, nothing but 
<' Christ, and him crucified," and the politician, and not the minister, 
must be the judge as to what that means I 

Political sins, however enormous, must be ignored in the pulpit, 
even on a day of national humiliation and prayer ! ! And as the natu- 
ral consequence of all this separation or divorcement of the Christian 
religion from our political life, the whole body politic has become so 
frightfully corrupt, that most men of integrity and of Christian prin- 
ciple recoil from it, as they would from the body of a leper! But it 
would be manifestly unjust to throw the entire responsibility of this 
political corruption on the politician or mere place-hunter. No, it is 
to be feared that the ministers of the gospel in our country, and pro- 
fessing Christians generally, have to bear a frightful share of this 
responsibility. For whilst they have seen a growing disposition, for 
years past, on the part of Latitudinarianism and Infidelity to demand 
an entire separation of the principles of the Christian religion from 
our social and political life, they have been too much disposed to 
yield to these infidel demands. Whilst I am decidedly opposed to 
preaching "politics or abolition," in the technical and opprobrious 
sense of these terms, yet I do think that the ministers of religion, and 
the professing Christians of our country, have been to a great extent 
unfaithful to their political duties I 



Allow me here to quote the eloquent words of Dr. IJoardman of 
Philadelphia on this point: — "Professing to regard Chrii^tianity aa 
the paramount concern of man, and to recognise the Divine [trutcc- 
tion as the only security fur nations, they have, to a great extent, 
abjured politics, and lelt the management of our affairs to wliuever 
might succeed in seizing the reins. As a general thing, professing 
Christians have shunned nomination to office, and taken no pains to 
secure the election of suitable men. They have not brought tht-ir 
influence to bear, in any suitable degree, upon the course of legisla- 
tion, so as to guard the interests of morality, and foster the healthy, 
conservative eh-iiient in our institutions 1'liey have t4jo often sacri- 
ficed, either to personal ease or to jxufj/, what was due to their coun- 
try; and by their silence, connived at that frightful corruption which 
has of late years spread like a leprosy through the whole domain of 
our politics." 

Ah! my friends, iho polid'ral s\ns of this nation are perfectly enor- 
mous — far more than enough to ruin the best Government, ur to 
destroy the greatest nation that ever existed I And if I had the car 
of this nation, on this day of humiliation and prayer, I would call 
upon it, in the name of lib< r(_t/ and ri/ii/ion, to repent in dust and 
ashes, lest a pure and holy God should blot it out of existence, on 
account of its political corruption ! As a people, we have become 
proud and selfish, avaricious and ambitious. Many, especially in 
high places, have become so "impatient to be rich," that they cannot 
wait to acquire it honestly. The Government is often robbed by those 
who have been entrusted with the management of its affairs, and it 
has actually come to pass, that men can gamble, without remorse, upon 
the misfortunes of their country ! 

God has given us a great country, with great wealth and great 
prosperity. Yes, one whose wealth and resources are far more than 
sufficient to plant and maintain the standards of liberty and religion 
on every island of the ocean, and in every heathen land; and yet, as 
an unfaithful steward, this nation has used its wealth, to an alarming 
extent, for selfish and sinful purposes I The Church of our liord iu 
the United States of America has been unable, notwithstanding the 
wealth of the people, to answer, except to a very limited degree, the 
Macedonian cry, that comes daily from our own frontiers, as well aa 
from foreign lands, "Come over and help us I" "Come over and help 
us I" Sometimes she h:is been obliged to call home the missionary of 
the cross in f6reign fields for want of means to sustain him in his 
noble work, whilst many a faithful minister of the gospel at home is 
now suffering, or has been already pressed out of his field of labour 
for want of an adequate support. And yet money was never more 
abundant, and perhaps never so cheap, as at the present time I 

Thus have we, as a nation, and olten as individuals, been "doing 
the work of the Lord deceitfully or negligently," and since this is so, 
lie is now chastising us with a heavy hand, and calling loudly upon 
as to repent. Since we would not use the wealth which He haa 
given us for carrying out our grand mission, except in a deceitful or 



negligent way, He is now drawing upon our national and private 
resources in a way we did not anticipate, and do not like, and drawing 
largely, too. 

I wish I had the time and the ability to point out, on this occasion, 
the immense influence, for evil, of an ungodly press in this country, 
where everybody reads. The press is an immense engine for good 
or for evil. It is one of the great j^oivers in this country; and when 
it does its work "deceitfully or negligently," who can estimate the 
evil results? I am indebted to the kindness of one of my ministerial 
brethren for the following statement: — "The power of the newspaper 
press may be seen in a statement made by Mr. Kinglake, historian of 
the Crimean war, an eminent statesman and close observer. He gives 
it as his conviction that the Times newspaper alone caused the Cri- 
mean war. And if so, it has made bankrupt an empire, caused the 
death of one of the greatest Emperors of the age, established another 
on his throne, rendered thousands of women husbandless and child- 
less, killed more than one general, made or ruined the reputation of 
others, and made hundreds of our best families mourn." 

Now, then, if it be true that the London Times was the cause of 
the Crimean war, and responsible for its immense evils, what shall we 
say of the influence of certain newspapers in our own country, over 
the Government, the people, and the army? I have not time to dwell 
on this point, but these remarks may suggest a train of thought 
which may lead you to see some of the immense evils which have 
resulted from doing the work of the Lord deceitfully, or negligently, 
by divorcing the principles of our holy religion from our political and 
business life. Is it not a sad fact, that so few of our rulers and 
business men conduct their affairs according to the principles of the 
word of God? How few there are, comparatively, who transact their 
business upon the Saviour's rule — "Whatsoever ye would that men 
should do to you, do ye even so to them 1" 

2. But there is another grand mistake which has been made, and 
which shows that the work of the Lord has been done deceitfully, or 
at least negligently, and that is, by neglecting, at the formation of the 
national government, to make Constitutional provision for the gradual 
removal of slavery, by compensative emancipation, or otherwise, from 
our country. 

However blind or indiSerent we may have been to the fact hereto- 
fore, it is easy for us voir to see, that if this had been done, there 
would have been no slave States to-day, and no institution of slavery 
to produce rebellion and civil war in our beloved land. The Congress 
that adopted the Constitution, and the people who ratified it, were 
perfectly competent to make such a provision; they had the legitimate 
power to do so, had they chosen to exercise it. But no such provision 
was made, and the sin of that neglect has rested, ever since, on the 
nation, and has, at length, culminated in the present wicked rebellion. 
I regard the formation of this Union as the work of the Lord, and our 
national Constitution as the noblest instrument of the kind that has 
ever been produced; but it is not infallible — it has its defects, and 



9 

especially is this the c^se if it be the result of compromise, for the 
very idea of compromise imjilies imperfection: and I rc-^'urd the omis- 
sion to which I have referred as one, at least, of its defects. 

It is a well known fact that the man who composed, and the com- 
mittee that recommended to Con.irress, the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, were opposed to slavery, and hoped to see it one day removed 
from the land; and hence they did not hesitate to incorporate into 
that immortal document this ^'reat self-evident truth, "That a// men 
are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rif;hts, among 
which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." But the Con- 
stitution, although based upon the Declarations of llights and of Inde- 
pendence, makes no provision by which those "persons hefd to service" 
in the United States should, at any tinre, -be permitted to enjoy those 
inalienable rights with which their Creator, according to the Declara- 
tion, has endowed them. 

But should it be said that the Constitution is the result of compro- 
mise, that it is the best that could be obtained at the time; or that 
with any provision for even the ultimate removal of slavery, it would 
have been rejected by the slave States, which were then in the ma- 
jority, I would reply by saying, that this may all be true, and yet it 
does not alter the fact, that such a provision ow/Jd to have been 
made. Whoever may have been most responsible for this neglect, it 
is easy for us now to see, since slavery has occa.«;ioned the rebellion, 
what a sad mistake it was. But whilst this is true, and whilst it is 
proper for us on a day of humiliation and prayer to express our 
regrets for this sad and sinful omi.ssion, and humbly to seek the for- 
giveness of Almighty God, still it is our duty, as loyal and patriotic 
citizens, to stand by the Constitution, notwithstanding its defects, and 
at all hazards, as the supreme law of the land, until it can be amended 
in the Constitutional way. 

III. I remark, in the next place, that the Lord has permitted these 
two national sins which I have mentioned, and which, perhaps, com- 
prehend the whole of our national transgressions, to c'ul.minate i.n a 

WICKED REI5ELLI0N AND A CIVIL WAR, IN ORDER TO SHOW US OUR 
INIQUITIES, AND TO BRING US TO REPENTANCE. 

How different might have been our circumstances to-day, if all our 
business transactions, and our political affairs, had been conducted on 
the principles of the gospel, and if we had not suffered the great evil 
of negro slavery to remain so long in our country; for, in order to 
perpetuate and extend it, nearly all of the slaveholding States have 
attempted, by violence and by war, to dissolve our glorious Union, 
and to destroy the Nation ! Instead of our .sons and our brothers 
having been called to arms in defence of our liberties and the Union, 
they would be at home to-day, enjoying and practicing the arts of 
peace, and not the arts of war. And let those who would sympathize 
with this rebellion, or oppose our Government in its efforts to put it 
down, remember, that the wailings of widowhood and of orphanage 



10 

■which are heard in the land, have been produced by this pro-slavery 
rebellion, and that every one of our friends and brothers who have fallen 
on the battle-field, has been munh red by the institution of slavery! 
Yes, my friends, we now see what a great mistake we have made; and 
God himself has, doubtless, undertaken to do for our country, and for 
the oppressed African amongst us, what we have neglected to do, and 
he is doing it in such a way as to chastise the nation sorely for this 
neglect. And we may see, moreover, that no nation, no more than 
any individual, "can harden itself against God and prosper." 

let us humble ourselves this day before God, and repent in dust 
and ashes, for, "who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn 
away from his fierce auger, that we perish not?" 

IV. Again, I remark, that the overthrow of the present 
Southern Rebellion is the work of the Lord, or the work 
WHICH he has now given us to perform. 

Although the Lord has permitted our sins to culminate in the 
awful calamity of civil war, and permitted it as a chastisement for 
those sins, yet it is just as much our duty to suppress this rebellion, 
and by force of arms, so long as the rebels remain in arms against us, 
as it is our duty to humble ourselves before God, and repent and 
forsake the sins which brought these evils upon us. It certainly 
requires no laboured argument to prove this. No truly loyal 
man will dispute it. I have never been able to find a single argu- 
ment to justify this rebellion, but many to show its wickedness. It 
began in treachery, robbery, and repudiation. Something like four 
hundred million of debts, justly due the Xorth, have been repu- 
diated by the South ! Many of the States were dragged out of the 
Union, by the rebel leaders, without consulting the popular will I It 
was in violation of the oath of allegiance and of office. Its avowed 
object is to per{)etuate and extend negro slavery, by means of a slave- 
holding Coniederacy, and the dissolution of the Union I And who 
but a rebel, or a rebel sj/nijuithizer, will say, that such a rebellion is 
just, or that it is not right to sustain our Ciovernment, and especially 
the executive power of the Government, in his efforts to suppress it? 

1 hold that the President of the United States, according to the 
Scriptures, is the minister of God, no matter by what political party 
he was placed in the presidential chair. "The powers that be, are 
ordained of God.'' "lie is the minister of God to thee for good." 
Eom. xiii. This is my authority. According to the Scriptures, then, 
we are under rclir/ioun obligations to sustain, and not oppose, the 
Government in the legitimate exercise of its powers. 

On this point there is, perhaps, no difi"erence of opinion. The only 
point of difference is, as to what constitutes the Government of the 
United States. In order to settle this question, we need only refer to 
our national charter. According to that instrument, our Government 
consists of three branches — the legislative, the executive, and the 
judicial. The legislative power is vested ^in Congress the judicial 



11 

power, in one Supreme Court, and a? many inreririr courts as Conj^cps 
may determine; and Article II., Section l<t,ortlie Constitution, says, 
that "the executive power sliall he vested in a l'rcf<ident of the 
United States of America;" and Section lid says, that "the President 
shall be Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy of tlic I'nited 
States, and the militia of the several States, when called into the 
service of the United States." 

The President, then, is the "Executive Tower" of the Ciovcrnnient. 
He is, in fact, the constituted head of the W/oA fJovernnient ; and 
that is not all, for he is constitutionally the ('imiwnnihr-in-('hi>/ of 
the army and navy. Yes, Abraham Linenln is the K.rmitirr Gurrrn- 
ment of our country at present, and will be, if he lives, durinjr hifl 
term of office. There is no other, and we can have no other without 
a revolution. We may not like Abraham Lincoln as a man, and wc 
may not regard some of his official acts, or war-measures, as the wiscBt 
and best, but we cannot oppose him as the Prranhnf, and the Com- 
fnan(?fr-i>i-C'/iirf of the army and navy, without opposing au rssculiat 
and conafitiiffoiKil part of the Government. 

No more palpable mistake was ever made, than to suppose that a 
man can be loyal to the Government and disloyal to the President. 
Why, the P)-esuh'ut is the Government — the Kxecutive (iovernment! 
The distinction which some men would make between the President 
and the Government, is not only unconstitutional, but foolish and 
absurd. The President, with the Constitution in his hand, can saj 
to those who denounce him, at the same time that they profe.ss to be 
loyal to the Government, as Louis Xl\. of France said to his oppo- 
nents, "The Government, it is I." But it is not only unconstitu- 
tional, but also im!=:cn2)tiiral, to oppose and resist the Executive branch 
of the Government. We are under nfii/Hnis obligations to sustain 
the President. Now, this is not preaching politics, or abolition, in 
the opprobious sense of those terms, but the gospel of Jesus Christ, 
for it is he who says, "Render unto Citsar the things which are 
Cassar's," and it is one of his own inspired apostles who says, " Let 
every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power," 
i. e., no lawfully constituted power, as the President of the United 
States for example, "but of God." Kom. xiii. 1. "/'-// fhrw hi mind 
to he siibjrrf to j>rl)iripriIlti'X and powera, to olxj/ ^L•\.<;ISTR.\TKS." 
Titus iii. I. This was Paul's charge to Titus, and through him to 
us. Every minister of the gospel is bound, on all proper occasions 
like the present one, to put the people in mind to obey Mmjii^trdhs, 
for they are the ministers of God for good. But this is not preach- 
ing politics, so called. I know that a man who prays for the Presi- 
dent, or for the success of our arms, is liable to the charge of "aboli- 
tion," but that epithet is fast losing its sting. I am not an abolitionist, 
in the technical sense of that term, and yet T have all my life been 
opposed to slavery, and hope to see the day when the evil shall be 
removed from my beloved country. T never have preached politics 
in the pulpit, and never expect to. I have no party interests to sub- 
serve. I take my stand on the broad platform of Christian patriotism, 



12 

with the Bible in one hand, and the Constitution of the United States 
of America in the other. I love mj country, and I sustain the 
Government of my country because the Bible and the Constitution 
make it my duty to do so. I hold that the Chief Magistrate of the 
I'uited States, no matter whether he be called a Democrat or a 
Kepublican, is the minister of God, according to the Scriptures, and 
that opposition to him, especially in a crisis like the present, is trea- 
sonable and wicked. This does not mean, that in the next Presidential 
campaign there may not be opposing candidates in the field. No, it 
has nothing to do with that question. The Constitutional majority of 
the people may elect whom they please for President, but when once 
elected, they are bound to sustain him, minority as well as majority, 
and it is anti-democratic not to do so. 

But there is another reason why we should sustain our Govern- 
ment, a reason suggested by the text. It is because the object of the 
Government in the present crisis, or the work in which it has been 
engaged, and at which it still aims, is the Lord's work. As to what 
the object of the Government is, there need be no misunderstanding, 
since that object has been repeatedly declared in the most distinct and 
ample manner. Both houses of Congress have declared to the world 
that the sole and only ohjert of the loar in to aupprexs the rchellion and 
n store the Union. The same purpose is affirmed in the Diplomacy of 
the Government with ♦foreign powers, and in the Messages of the 
President to Congress. Even in his celebrated proclamation of last 
September, he declares that '' Hereafter^ as heretofore^ the war will he 
prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the Constitutional rela- 
tion between the United States and the peopde thereof in si/rh States as 
that relation is or may be disturbed." Such is the object of the 
Government in the prosecution of the war; and I hold that this 
object is right and proper, that it is "the work of the Lord." 

It is an easy matter for party purposes to raise the cry of "aboli- 
tion," and assert that it is a war for the negro, and not for the Union. 
But so far as the Government is concerned, there is not one word of 
truth in it. The original and legitimate object of the war has not 
been perverted by the Government, or by the President, if you prefer. 
''The position a.t frst taken by the Government, is the one maintained 
to-day." 

But has not the Government, it has been asked, resorted to emancipa- 
tion, as to the slaves of the rebels? Yes, and for the very same reason 
that it has raised an army and built a navy, to break down the rebel- 
lion and restore the Union. The emancipation of the slaves in the 
revolted States is not the object of the war, but one of the jueans 
adopted by the Government for the (iccomplislun-nt of the object. 
TJie object is to restore the Union by suppi-essing the rebellion. You 
may think the emancipation policy of the Government unwise — ^you 
may even doubt its constitutionality, and I may think just the oppo- 
site. I may regard it as a yrand stroke of polic)' — one which haa 
almost entirely revolutionized the popular opinion of France and Eng- 
land in our favour, and which has done more to prevent foreign inter- 



13 

vention than almost any one thin<; which the riovcrnmont could have 
done. We have a right to our private ojiininns, and a riu'ht to «'xpros.s 
them, when it can be dune without injury to the (lovcrnincnt; hut 
•whilst this is so, we should reniember that, as to whether tin; Knian- 
cipation Proclamation was a judicious war measure or not, the IVesi- 
dent, according to the Constitution, is the sole judge, and it is our 
duty, as good citizens, to acquiesce in his judgment. 

These arguments are made to show that the work which the Lord 
has given our Government to perform at present, is to sii{)pn'ss the 
rebellion and restore the Union, and to warn you against the sin of 
opposing it in such a work. I hold that we are under the most 
solemn obligations to sustain the dovcrnjnent in this work, both from 
motives of patriotism and religion; and that if the (Jovernment, or 
the army or the navy, or any considerable portion of the people, have 
been dping this "work of the Lord negligently or deceitfully," it 
becomes us to humble ourselves before Clod, and in the spirit of peni- 
tence to implore his forgiveness. 

Is it not, then, a legitimate point of inquiry for you and for me, 
How have we been doing the work of the Lord; and especially that 
portion of it which has lor its object the suppression of the rebellion 
and the restoration of the Union? Have we been doing it ''deceit- 
fully or negligently," or, have we been opposing it altogether? And 
shall I not, as a faithful minister of the gospel, declare the whole 
counsel of God, contained in this portion of his word, whether men 
will hear or whether they will forbear? Then I shall be obliged to 
notice the two remaining points of the text, in its application to our 
duty under present circumstances; first, AVho are they who do this 
work of the Lord deceitfully? and, secondly, "What is meant by keep- 
ing back the sword from blood or from this work? In my remarks 
on these two points, I shall take it for granted that the work in 
which our Government is at present engaged, viz , the suppresMion 
of the rebellion and the restoration of the Union, is the work of the 
Lord. 

1. Wlio, then, arc thrt/ irho ilo this \rnrk ofjltr Lord drrrUfiilhf? 

I would regard it as doing the work of the Lord deceitfully, for a 
member of Congress, e. fj., to oppose all the war measures of the 
Government as unwise and unconstitutional, and yet never offering 
any others in their stead — to make loud professions of loyalty to the 
Constitution and the Union, and at the same time to oppose every 
measure of the Government to maintain the Constitution and the 
Union, and yet have nothing to offer in its place. If men are 
honest iii their opposition to the measures of the Government, it is to 
be presumed that they would have something more eflBcient to offer in 
their stead. 

The sentiment of the text will apply to those officers of our army 
and navy, if such there be, who profess to be fighting for their 
country, whilst their real motives are selfish and ambitious, or who 
may not be thoroughly loyal. I would regard it as doing the work 
of the Lord deceitfully, for any of the commanding generals, from 



14 

motives of ambition, jealousy, kc, to refuse to cooperate on the battle- 
field, or to carry out faithfully the orders of their superiors in command. 
And in almost every community, there are individuals to be found 
who profess to be loyal, and who even affect to be insulted when it is 
called in (juestion, and yet they have not been heard to utter a loyal 
sentiment since the war began I 

2. Again, I remark, that the text applies to the man who re/nses to 
unsheathe his suord in the (hfence of his country, or who calls for 
peace, when God, in his providence, calls for war, or when there is no 
visible means of peace but the sword. It may mean all who would 
oppose the Government, or throw obstacles in the way of a vigorous 
prosecution of the war for the suppression of the rebellion ; all who 
would resist the draft, for example, or who refuse to bear their share 
of the expenses of the war. I understand it as referring in its appli- 
cation to all opposition to the President, as Commander-in-Chief of the 
army and navy, whether by individuals, or by secret associations for 
the purpose — whether from cowardice, or for party purposes, or from 
sympathy with rebellion. 

Now I assert, that in the light of God's word, and in the light of 
history, they who act thus in opposition to the Government, and to 
the war, when there is nothing left us but war, or ruin, must incur a 
fearful responsibility. "Cursed be he that doeth the work of the 
Lord deceitfully or negligently, and cursed be he that keepeth back 
his sword from blood," saith the Lord. 

The war in which we are engaged is a popular one, because it is 
just; and opposition to it, sooner or later, will be disastrous. The 
odium of this opposition, and of this treason, will descend upon the 
children of those who make it, whilst their own names will go down 
to posterity with that of Aaron Burr or Benedict Arnold I It 
always has been so, and always will be so. It was so with the tories 
of the American Revolution ; it was so with the traitors in the war 
of 1812; and it will doubtless be so with those who oppose the war 
in which we are now engaged. Because the Hartford Convention 
was regarded as treasonable, the very name has ever since been held 
in execrable remembrance. It is said that in the party in England 
that opposed the Peninsular war, not one ever alter rose to office or 
power. It required, says the historian from whom I quote, a whole 
generation, in the opinion of the English constituencies, to expiate 
the faults of those who had sneered at the great Duke, and had called 
the glorious fields of Talavera, Badajoz, kc, "barren victories, equal 
in their effects to defeats." 

Now, then, my friends, let us take warning from God's word, and 
from the history of the past. Let us beware of incurring the fearful 
responsibility of doing "the work of the Lord deceitfully or negli- 
gently" whatever it may be, and let us beware of opposing the 
Government, or the War in which it is now engaged, lest by so doing 
we might be found opposing God ; but let us follow the teachings 
of his word, and abide by the Constitution and the laws of the land. 



15 

You are aware that God sent his angel, on a certain occasion, to curse 
the inhabitants of Meroz, " because they came not up to the help of 
the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty;" and let us, as 
a constituent part of this great nation, on this Day of Humiliation 
and Prayer, repent, and forsake our sins, and seek forgiveness, lost the 
curse of God come upon us for a similar reason; for not coming up to 
the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against this mi;/hf^ 
rehellion. In the management of all our national and individual affairs, 
let there be a return to the word of God. Let our business be con- 
ducted on the principle of the Saviour's golden rule, " Whatsoever ye 
would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." 

In our present national troubles let all hearts be united, and united 
on the principle of Christian patriotism, in sustaining our Government 
in its efforts to suppress the rebellion and restore the Tnion. It is 
no time now to engage in mere party strife, when our beloved country- 
is bleeding at every pore, when our liberties are at stake, and 
the best Government which God has given to man is in danger of 
being overwhelmed! No, no! Let it ha written in letters of gold 
upon the door-posts of our dwellings and upon our banners, that OUR 

ONLY UOPE IS IN GOD AND A UNITED NoRTII. 

One of the great sins of the day \s' parti/ jioUtlcs — that there are so 
many men in our country who seem to love their parti/ more than 
they love God and their country! Our cause is just; the efforts of 
our Government are "right; it is the work of the Lord, and we are 
called upon, by every consideration of patriotism and religion, to 
sustain our Government by our influence, our prayers, our means, and 
LIVES, if need be, in its efforts to suppress this unholy rebellion, 
and to restore the Union and PEACE! 




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